Favorite web resources for writers

2012_June_Socialmedia2I’m not always a fan of tecnology, and I often lament the fact that it takes us away from the daydreaming and writing that we writers should set aside more of our time in pursuing. But I’m also the first to admit that a writer’s job – particularly a writer just starting out – is infinitely easier thanks to technology.

I’ve learned so much about writing, the publishing industry, queries, and the short story market through web sites. There are tremendous resources out there for both beginning and experienced writers. And they’re all just a simple click away.

An entire list would be exhaustive, but I’d like to highlight some of my favorites… and I’d love to learn some of yours. So, here goes:

Critique CircleCritique Circle – Joining Critique Circle has been invaluable to improving my writing. I come here to post novel chapters or short stories and to receive helpful feedback from my helpful critiquers, many of whom have become good friends. It’s a supportive environment, and I believe I’ve learned as much from critiquing others’ work as I have from receiving advice to improve my own pages.

2013_May_writerresourcesQuery Shark – Agent Janet Reid runs this incredibly helpful site. If you’re an author about to send queries, make sure you take some time to review this site. Queries are submitted to this site and Ms Reid chomps away at them. Authors can follow her advice, revise, and resubmit, until the query arrives at point where she deems it a ‘yes’ for a literary agent.

Nathan BransfordNathan Bransford – This literary-agent-turned-young- adult-author runs an incredibly useful site, discussing the publishing industry, trends, how the industry is changing, how to write query letters. The archives are full of great resources for those just starting out.

New pages– If you’re writing short stories, this call for submissions page is invaluable, helping you to see what is being sought by literary journals, with precise deadlines and links into guidelines.

Rachelle GardnerRachelle Gardner– This site by literary agent Rachelle Gardner is filled with advice and information for new writers. You name it, Rachelle Gardner writes about it: querying, the role of agents, publishing contracts, the changing publishing industry and what it means for writers.

Review Review – If you start submitting to literary journals, this site will become handy. This gives an overview of all the major literary journals with a brief background of the type of work they accept and their submission periods and response times. An extremely useful site for your research.

So, writers, these are some of my favorite sites. What about yours?

12 Comments

  1. Catherine on May 10, 2013 at 7:47 am

    I enjoyed looking at these thanks! I used to read Nathan Bransford and he is really on top of things. I tend to send out to UK mags more than American ones, although I’ve had rejections from some of those mentioned in The Review Review. My favourite US site was Betsy Lerner, although she’s withdrawn from blogging now – she is a NY editor with a crippling sense of humour and I once won a query-letter comp on her site. In the UK I follow The Short Review, Paul McVeigh’s blog and the Thresholds FB group which has short story news. Plus a host of other writers! It’s rather endless isn’t it? I also used to be on Authonomy and You Write On but found it too time-consuming. Ciao cat

    • kimberlysullivan on May 10, 2013 at 8:01 am

      Ooh, great tips, Catherine. Yes, agreed that it is rather endless. Procrastination – I mean, research – can keep one away from the actual writing, but it’s great to have all these resources at our fingertips.

  2. DMartens-CWA on May 10, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Thanks for these great resources, which I had not yet stumbled across. Checking them out now.

  3. Julia on May 10, 2013 at 2:38 pm

    Thanks, Kimberly. I was planning to post useful links too in the future. Good post.

  4. Nicola Layouni on May 10, 2013 at 4:35 pm

    I’m familiar with a few of these sites, Kimberly. All very useful. 🙂 Here’s another for you to check out Evil Editor He is very hot on beginnings.

    I used to really enjoy Miss Snark literary agent, but she’s no longer transmitting, unfortunately. Her site is still there though. 🙂

    • kimberlysullivan on May 10, 2013 at 5:30 pm

      Hi Nicola. Ooh, I loved Miss Snark, too. I hope she’ll come back an blog again … although I’m not sure I’d want to find her on the other end of my query. : (

  5. fayenorth on May 11, 2013 at 12:33 am

    Great list, Kimberly. I also like The Bookshelf Muse for their Emotion Thesaurus (there’s also one for character traits, physical attributes, etc.) – very helpful.

    • kimberlysullivan on May 11, 2013 at 1:05 pm

      Great tip, Faye! Thanks – sounds like a resource I could DEFINITELY use!

  6. Claire 'Word by Word' on May 17, 2013 at 10:54 pm

    Great tips. I like to follow Grub Street, a Boston based writers workshop through which I discovered NewPages and of course my subscription to Mslexia Magazine.

  7. Memórias ao Vento on September 5, 2018 at 2:43 am

    Reblogged this on Memórias ao Vento.

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